Front Cover: Synthesis of Peptides by Reactive Extrusion. Application to the Continuous and Solventless Preparation of Aspartame. (ChemistryEurope 3-4/2024)

Front Cover picture illustrates the merging of mechanics and chemistry to produce molecules of interest. The synthesis of peptides by flow mechanochemistry was performed in a twin-screw extruder (TSE) used as a chemical reactor. In their Research Article, T. M. El-Dine, T.-X. Métro, F. Lamaty, and co-workers describe how applications of screw-generated mechanical forces to a mixture of amino acids and coupling agents delivered to the top of a TSE barrel promoting the synthesis of the corresponding peptide—in this case, aspartame—recovered from the die of the TSE. Various peptides were synthesized by this method. The artwork was designed my by Marcelin Lamaty.